The use of holistic cognitive style in black language is discussed in this paper. Two types of cognitive style, analytic and holistic, are identified. Holistic thinkers are described as socially oriented while analytical thinkers are characterized as task oriented. Evidence is given to support the claim that blacks tend to be holistic thinkers and that this is reflected in their language. The features that mark black language as holistic are discussed, and include: (1) lack of distance between black writers and their audiences, as demonstrated by the use of the second person "you" in academic papers; (2) transitional features, such as grammatical, semantic, phonological, and usage misapplications of words and morphemes; (3) distinctive classification, marked by the relative absence of hierarchical ranking and of comparative terms; and (4) the use of concrete imagery and, in fiction, the use of proverbs. (Author/APM)